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Soccer

Small things add up - Edwards wins CCAA Exemplary Leadership Award

Garrett Edwards, middle, a teacher from Sudbury who is studying at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alta., shows off his Exemplary Leadership Award at the CCAA national men's soccer championship in Nanaimo, B.C. on Saturday. CCAA Photo

Walking off the field after a disappointing loss, rain pouring down, Garrett Edwards could have been forgiven for being a little self absorbed.

But even in that moment, the soccer standout from Sudbury was anything but.

Edwards and the Keyano College Huskies, a squad based in Fort McMurray, Alta., were considered contenders for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association men's national championship, contested in Nanaimo, B.C. last week. But after winning their opening match, the Huskies were shut out in their second and fell out of gold-medal contention.

"After the game, we were a bit down on ourselves, because one loss at that stage puts you in a consolation bracket," Edwards, 33, recalled this week. "We were walking back to the dressing room and there was a practice field next to the game field and there was a group of young kids, maybe six or seven, playing soccer."

Edwards, a full-time teacher enrolled in Keyano's Aboriginal entrepreneurship program, noticed that only one of the youngsters wasn't wearing soccer cleats.

"I called him over and asked him, 'Would you like a pair of cleats?' and he said, 'Sure,' " Edwards said. "So I gave him my Nikes and they were a little too big for him, but as a teacher, you're a role model for these kids, right? His eyes lit up and he took them back and started running with the other guys."

The gesture also made an impression on Jonathan Lambert, Keyano's athletic director, who had listened to Edwards' conversation with the young player and watched him hand over his cleats to the beaming boy before walking in sock feet across the rain-soaked ground to the dressing room.

"It really struck me, his unselfishness at that time," Lambert said. "You take into consideration the weather, the circumstances – we still had a chance of winning a bronze medal at the time, but the chance of winning a national championship was done – and the sorrow that comes with that sort of piece, and the first thing he wanted to do was help out a young individual.

"If I wasn't standing there, nobody except him and this kid and his friends would have known about it, so it was very genuine and very pure and it just made me and our athletics department in general feel like we must be doing something right."

Lambert passed on the story to CCAA soccer brass, who were so impressed they presented Edwards with the Exemplary Leadership Award during a ceremony on Saturday.

The award came as a complete shock to the Sudbury native.

"I was a little beside myself, to be honest," Edwards said.

"It's definitely a humbling experience, because it's a Canadian award and not just an Ontario award, and it's definitely appreciated."

The Exemplary Leadership Award replaced the Fair Play Award, which the CCAA had handed out to players or teams for good sportsmanship and respect for opponents and officials, but the organization wanted to focus more on individuals who showed not only sportsmanship, but strong leadership, according to CCAA soccer convener David Munro.

"We're always on the lookout for someone who shows something, does something or exhibits something at the championship that sets them apart and allows them to contend for this award," Munro said. "One of the things we were still doing is after each game, an official was choosing a player on each side who epitomized what the sport should look like in terms of respect for opponents and for them and for the coaches."

Organizers had gathered those names as candidates for the leadership award, but then Lambert shared Edwards' story with Munro, hoping it might put him in consideration.

"I said, 'It sure does,' " Munro said. "I think Garrett was just totally shocked when he got the award. I got that sense when he came over, but I said to him, 'I know that you didn't do what you did to win this award, but what you did was instrumental in you getting this award.' "

For Edwards, the best possible outcome would be for someone else to be inspired by his example, and inspire someone else in turn.

"It's just a small thing," he said. "But you do a lot of small things right and benefits will come your way later on."